grr..humanities majors

[peterpansy]

Haha...this is great. I still have the original post the OP made, but the thread went the same way anyway. Amazing what a few hours away from SDN will show ya.

Except now instead of bashing humanities majors for taking the easy way out (which was the OP's opinion that I don't share in any way) they're bashing "ignorant premeds" who dare care more about science than humanities which apparently makes them ignorant. great.

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[Indryd]

Hmmm...non-science GPA: 3.72...science GPA: 3.77

Gosh-darn me and my humanities grade-padding ass.

BA/BS here...non-science 3.75...science 3.95 (not counting my first year at a community college). I never really did anything but attend lecture and show up for tests for my science classes, but I had to work like a dog for my grades in my U/D English courses.

This is at a very heavily science-leaning school.

 

[dr.kicia]

i have to add $0.02...
Over my whole undergrad i have been a bio major, then architecture major and now i am an art history major. Out of all of these i have to admit that bio and art hist are a joke compering to architecture. One semester of architecture brought my gpa down a lot.

I like to read or even study bio long hours but the time you have to spend in the studio as an architecture major is just insane. Before final project we wouldn't sleep in 2-3 day running on red bulls and coffe.

One semester as architecture major drained me more then 3 years of college.
I really admire people who are architecture major and can hold a 3.0 gpa becuase this is nearly immposible....unless you do not need to sleep and on top of this are very creative person

 

[SuzieQ3417]

Except now instead of bashing humanities majors for taking the easy way out (which was the OP's opinion that I don't share in any way) they're bashing "ignorant premeds" who dare care more about science than humanities which apparently makes them ignorant. great.

Well...it always starts out with someone bashing humanities majors for taking the easy way out. Then the humanities majors get angry and try to defend their coursework and prove the difficulties of it. Look up any thread on this topic...it always unfolds this way. I don't think anyone was saying someone is an ignorant pre-med just because they care more about science than humanities. I think you might be misinterpreting someone's statement.

 

[peterpansy]

Well...it always starts out with someone bashing humanities majors for taking the easy way out. Then the humanities majors get angry and try to defend their coursework and prove the difficulties of it. Look up any thread on this topic...it always unfolds this way. I don't think anyone was saying someone is an ignorant pre-med just because they care more about science than humanities. I think you might be misinterpreting someone's statement.

I was just exaggerating to make a point. I just think it's sad that people have to prove one way or another who's better or smarter or more qualified. And I'm relatively new to SDN forums, so I don't know about it always unfolding this way. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place.

 

[RxnMan]

I was just exaggerating to make a point. I just think it's sad that people have to prove one way or another who's better or smarter or more qualified. And I'm relatively new to SDN forums, so I don't know about it always unfolding this way. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place.

What did you expect? Look at your audience! All of us are type-A personalities that are inches (in the grand scheme of things) from achieving our dreams. Only, some of us don't get that dream. It's natural that some of us are going to be mad about not getting in, especially after working so hard. So we'll think of ways that we're better than others, despite not being accepted. Then someone vents their frustration, and then the flaming begins...

 

[SuzieQ3417]

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place.

Lol...I always say that when I see certain threads pop up, and then I can't help myself.

 

[stifler]

my original post included a line that said if you disagree start your own thread. i really care less if you think im ignorant, because im successful regardless of your opinions. you can say i lack interpersonal skills for a career in medicine, great we'll find out in another year. by the looks of it ill be fine regardless of those who bash my ignorance. i speak from experience at my own school. if you differ from my opinion i dont care to hear about it because its not going to change my views. these views dont affect the way i treat ppl much and if you think it does then too bad, not everyone is as smart as you or as you think you are.

call me ignorant all you want, if i want to be a doc, ill be one based on merit, which doesnt have to show on sdn. i dont need to lay out perfect grammar for you guys, ill save the work when i work on my essay.

ps who said rants cant have run ons who who who so is this bad here is a run on for you lovely humanity majors

 

[Law2Doc]

Except now instead of bashing humanities majors for taking the easy way out (which was the OP's opinion that I don't share in any way) they're bashing "ignorant premeds" who dare care more about science than humanities which apparently makes them ignorant. great.

The pen is migher than the ... beaker?

 

[Rafa]

if you differ from my opinion i dont care to hear about it because its not going to change my views.

I hope this comes through loud and clear in your personal statement.

 

[stifler]

What did you expect? Look at your audience! All of us are type-A personalities that are inches (in the grand scheme of things) from achieving our dreams. Only, some of us don't get that dream. It's natural that some of us are going to be mad about not getting in, especially after working so hard. So we'll think of ways that we're better than others, despite not being accepted. Then someone vents their frustration, and then the flaming begins...

im pretty sure im getting in. maybe not to hms or a hopkins but to at least a us med school if i apply. sounds cocky? but i think most ppl on this board know if they have a 3.7 and a well rounded set of ec's and decent recs they are going to get in and no i don't sound like an ass during interviews, i apparently interview well as according to my school's career office. if you guys like i guess you can say another mistake in med school, go for it, but im pretty sure if im a doc my patients would be fine and happy, if not then ill be out of business and itll be my mistake.

 

[RxnMan]

my original post included a line that said if you disagree start your own thread. i really care less if you think im ignorant, because im successful regardless of your opinions. you can say i lack interpersonal skills for a career in medicine, great we'll find out in another year. by the looks of it ill be fine regardless of those who bash my ignorance. i speak from experience at my own school. if you differ from my opinion i dont care to hear about it because its not going to change my views. these views dont affect the way i treat ppl much and if you think it does then too bad, not everyone is as smart as you or as you think you are.

call me ignorant all you want, if i want to be a doc, ill be one based on merit, which doesnt have to show on sdn. i dont need to lay out perfect grammar for you guys, ill save the work when i work on my essay.

ps who said rants cant have run ons who who who so is this bad here is a run on for you lovely humanity majors

This made me laugh. A good buddy of mine was quoted in the school paper saying "I din't go to no engineerin' school to learn how to write good."

But why post if you don't want to create discourse and open yourself up to other ideas? If your mind isn't going to be changed, then don't post here, go vent to your girlfriend, or another premed, or, like I do sometimes, talk to your dad about things.

Best of luck in the next go-around. Lord knows, we'll all need it.

 

[Law2Doc]

If your mind isn't going to be changed, then don't post here, go vent to your girlfriend,

If he's a die hard science guy, SDN might be his girlfriend... j/k

 

[RxnMan]

If he's a die hard science guy, SDN might be his girlfriend... j/k

Being a die-hard science guy, I take offense to that! In the words of the Human Torch: "Flame ON!"

 

[Law2Doc]

Being a die-hard science guy, I take offense to that! In the words of the Human Torch: "Flame ON!"

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist taking the shot -- you fed me such an easy lay up.

 

[it.]

The humanities, particularly english courses, are too often filled with "In my opinion...", "I feel that...", or the like. Everybody talks out of their asses for an hour or two only to end up back at Square 1. It frustrates me to no end. I dare not stay the full duration of these lectures for fear of spewing out boiling, frothing blood out of every bodily orifice.

 

[Flopotomist]

I finished my BA in Philosophy, and would suggest that an upper division philosophy course required MUCH more work than any of the science courses that I took. However, getting into a pissing contest about who had more difficult courses is a bit silly.

We all faced the same pre-med requirements, and those should have been relatively equal in terms of difficulty (the MCAT gave a rough measure of how well we understood concepts from these pre-reqs.) What we decided to study beyond the pre-med minimum requirements should have been something that you ENJOYED working hard in.

Often I find that the science majors bemoaning the "easy life" that the humanities majors supposedly have are actually frustrated because they are realizing very late in the game that they spent time studying something that they did not enjoy in order to get into medical school when they really didn't need to. Hence, my advice to pre-meds is STUDY WHAT YOU LIKE - don't be a bio major just because you think you are supposed to study this just to get into medical school.

 

[Indryd]

I finished my BA in Philosophy, and would suggest that an upper division philosophy course required MUCH more work than any of the science courses that I took. However, getting into a pissing contest about who had more difficult courses is a bit silly.

We all faced the same pre-med requirements, and those should have been relatively equal in terms of difficulty (the MCAT gave a rough measure of how well we understood concepts from these pre-reqs.) What we decided to study beyond the pre-med minimum requirements should have been something that you ENJOYED working hard in.

Often I find that the science majors bemoaning the "easy life" that the humanities majors supposedly have are actually frustrated because they are realizing very late in the game that they spent time studying something that they did not enjoy in order to get into medical school when they really didn't need to. Hence, my advice to pre-meds is STUDY WHAT YOU LIKE - don't be a bio major just because you think you are supposed to study this just to get into medical school.

Amen, brother.

I am sooooooooo glad I tempered my studies for my BS with literary studies. My English classes were like an oasis for me, a chance to be around normal human beings for a couple of hours (note: not rippng on science majors, ripping on PRE-MEDS in general...you all know what I'm talking about...pre-meds are NOT generally normal human beings...I know...I'm a pre-med...).

I couldn't imagine spending 4 years in labs all day and in class with a bunch of competitive, anal-retentive freaks without being able to balance it with the dirty hippie touchy feely types in my lit courses.

Stifler, you don't seem to get that if your GPA is suffering because you are enrolled in an abnormally difficult course of study, that your MCAT will reflect that.

If you are so much more brilliant than the humanities majors at your school who are pre-med, that will come out when you test. That's why they call it the equalizer; it levels out GPAs.

So, if you destroy the MCAT, you will not only be vindicated, you will also be on easy street because adcoms will see that clearly your course of study, though it may have been exceedingly difficult for you, was outstanding preparation for medical school.

If you get destroyed by the MCAT, then you might have to consider that maybe the reason you find your science classes so hard is that you are not as smart as you thought you were, and that your humanities friends have rocking GPAs because they are really, really smart and would have had rocking GPAs regardless of their course of study.

Good luck!

 

[argonana]

Quick comment to the OP: I've read some of your older posts. You attend my alma mater. The sciences there are not difficult. Yes, they can be a much bigger time commitment, but if you go to class & lab and do the required work, you will do well. I personally thought the humanities courses there were significantly more difficult, although I admittedly slacked off in most of those classes.

Sophomore year can be rough if you have Rick, but everything should get easier after that...

 

[Orthodoc40]

my original post was to say humanities majors shouldnt walk around campus thinking they are the smartest ppl because they can easily get A's. but thats my school and there are lots intellectual snobs at MY school who think they are soooo smart because they got an A in a bs social science course or something.

I only wish the arrogant premed science majors at my undergrad didn't walk around thinking they were holier than thou because they 'had to work so much harder' than everyone else. As if they even knew how hard everyone else had to work! What a joke.

 

[nikibean]

I finished my BA in Philosophy, and would suggest that an upper division philosophy course required MUCH more work than any of the science courses that I took. However, getting into a pissing contest about who had more difficult courses is a bit silly.

I'm with you. I'll give you my Feminist Theory 101 reader from my Women's Studies classes, and you can go ahead and compare that to Biochem. Equally frustrating, equal amount of time, and honestly, trying to read Biochem is at LEAST straightforward. I worked my butt off in both my undergrad and my postbac, and not only did I do the med school requirements, but I did them while working full time.


Chuck Norris majored in everything and has a 5.2 GPA. Chuck Norris doesn't compare himself to others, since there's no comparison.

 

[MN81]

Here is the summary of this Thread:


SDNer #1: My brain learns science better, and therefore humanities suck and I hate their stupid guts. Humanities brought my GPA down from a 3.9 to a 3.7. Frick!


SDNer#2: Yeah? Well my brain learns differently from yours you idiot. Humanities are waaaay easier and those stupid hard sciences are what really hurt my GPA.


SDNer #3: mmm.... Bacon....

 

[bbaek]

OK, so perhaps I'm qualified to address the elephant in the room. I'm a humanities major. AND a science major. I'm doubling in English and Biology at Vanderbilt, and I can honestly say that English has done more to bring my GPA down than Biology has. English has provided me with my most intellectually challenging coursework from the last four years of my education. So before you bash either side, humanities or science, make sure that you have experience in both.

Now, it's time for my class on Joyce (I'd much rather be back in Biochem).

i think i have to disagree with you on this one. i USED to be an english and biology double major until i found out how lacking english is in challenging the mind. true, the more well-known humanities majors, such as english and philosophy, do bring down the gpa more due to the more critical thinking involved compared to biology, but english as a major is a joke. if you really want to grow and be challenged, be a philosophy major in addition to the biology major.

and just for an add-on: it appears that most people in the humanities, generally the english majors, are the laziest people at my school (this is my own personal observation). they could care less if they received an A or not. they just want to get in, get out, and start working in a job UNRELATED to english altogether. so for those who take the humanities SERIOUSLY (aka trying to go for the A/A+), it is very difficult. but trying to go for that B or C+ is a cinch.

 

[NapeSpikes]

and just for an add-on: it appears that most people in the humanities, generally the english majors, are the laziest people at my school (this is my own personal observation). they could care less if they received an A or not. they just want to get in, get out, and start working in a job UNRELATED to english altogether.

That second part was totally me in undergrad. I couldn't care less if I got an A or a B. It was before pre-med and it was awesome.

But lazy? Please. Just because I didn't chase the grade doesn't make me--or any other humanities classmate--a slacker.

 

[CptCrunch]

that's funny cause i've always thought the same thing about both the arts& sciences. stop memorizing and start thinking.

engineers rule!

Damn straight!

 

[bbaek]

That second part was totally me in undergrad. I couldn't care less if I got an A or a B. It was before pre-med and it was awesome.

But lazy? Please. Just because I didn't chase the grade doesn't make me--or any other humanities classmate--a slacker.

well, i did mention that the people at my school appeared to be in this case. i understand not everyone who is an english major is lazy, but a good majority of them are.

 

[nikibean]

I think the overarching quesiton is whether or not you majored in something you wanted to learn about, something that you LIKED.
If you didn't, and you're bitter, whether you're a humanities or science or social science major, then learn from your choices and move on. Stop bitching and moaning because you think someone has an edge due to their choices, and focus on yourself. Don't you think the Adcoms take into account the level of difficulty of classes and the commitment that people give to medicine? Please. If it were just GPA issues, then I'd say, okay, you have a decent complaint, but admissions is not based solely on GPA.

I majored in what I did because I loved it, and it was tough. I did very very well, and spent my free time working. I didn't party (summer doesn't count), I picked up a second major even though I didn't have to, and I worked my butt off for my degree. I did the same when I took science classes. Do I feel like comparing my application to yours? Nope. I'll leave that to the adcoms. I'm satisfied with the level of commitment I put into my education, and I don't have to go bashing on anyone else.
I believe it's pretty safe to say that the people on SDN, regardless of major, are pretty motivated, and are generally the upper tier of their schools.